2 pm - 3 pm in the Small Meeting Room, Lower Level
Be part of the One Book, One Community movement by reading and discussing this year’s chosen book, Heartland. Sarah Smarsh was born a fifth generation Kansas wheat farmer on her paternal side and the product of generations of teen mothers on her maternal side. Through her experiences growing up as the daughter of a dissatisfied young mother and raised predominantly by her grandmother on a farm thirty miles west of Wichita, we are given a unique and essential look into the lives of poor and working class Americans living in the heartland. Combining memoir with powerful analysis and cultural commentary, Heartland is an uncompromising look at class, identity, and the particular perils of having less in a country known for its excess. You must have read or listened to the book to participate. Ages 18 and older, please. Registration begins February 1.

2:00 pm to 3:00 pm in the Small Meeting Room, Lower Level

Join us as we discuss this year’s Longwood gardens Community Reads book choice, Semiosis. In this character driven novel of first contact by debut author Sue Burke, human survival hinges on an bizarre alliance. Forced to land on a planet they aren't prepared for, human colonists rely on their limited resources to survive. The planet provides a lush but inexplicable landscape--trees offer edible, addictive fruit one day and poison the next, while the ruins of an alien race are found entwined in the roots of a strange plant. Conflicts between generations arise as they struggle to understand one another and grapple with an unknowable alien intellect. You must have read or listened to the book to attend. Ages 18 and older, please. Registration online begins February 1.

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm in the Small Meeting Room, Lower Level
Become a part of Fredricksen Reads, our series of book discussions. Inspired by Longwood Gardens Community Reads, we are adding a special garden-themed read this month! As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. You must have read or listened to this true story to participate. Register online beginning February 1.

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm in the Small Meeting Room, Lower Level
Become a part of Fredricksen Reads, our series of book discussions. Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Author Delia Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps. You must have read or listened to the book to participate. Register beginning November 1.

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm in the Small Meeting Room, Lower Level
Become a part of Fredricksen Reads, our series of book discussions. In 1957, Melba Beals was one of the nine African American students chosen to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. But her story of overcoming didn't start--or end--there. In I Will Not Fear, Beals takes readers on an unforgettable journey through terror, oppression, and persecution, highlighting the kind of faith needed to survive in a world full of heartbreak and anger. You must have read or listened to this true story to participate. Register beginning November 1.

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm in the Small Meeting Room, Lower Level
Become a part of Fredricksen Reads, our series of book discussions. Ernt, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature. You must have read or listened to the book to attend. Online registration is open. Ages 18 and older, please.